Saturday, September 24, 2011

Ignorance Kills

A new report in the aftermath of the deadly tornados that hit Joplin, Missouri (killing 162 residents) indicates that most of the city's population ignored the tornado warning system.

While conducting a survey to assess the effectiveness of the communications and warning system, officials at NOAA discovered that, "The majority of surveyed Joplin residents did not immediately go to shelter upon hearing the initial warning." The report went on to say that they "did not take protective action until processing additional credible confirmation of the threat and its magnitude from a non-routine, extraordinary risk trigger."

In other words, even though they heard the sirens and broadcast warnings, the folks just sat there and waited to find out if it was "real" or not. The report said that, "the vast majority of Joplin residents" didn't respond to the first siren because of an apparent widespread disregard for tornado sirens. "Relationships between false alarms, public complacency, and warning credibility are highly complex," the report said.

Jasper County emergency manager, Keith Stammer, said Joplin is a "weather ready community," and that the city has applied for federal funding for 10,000 weather radios for Joplin households.

My question is why? Why should the taxpayers shell out for 10,000 weather radios when the people just ignore the warnings anyway?

My opinion is that if you don't want to heed the warnings, then you deserve exactly what you get. It's time for people to take personal responsibility for their own welfare. If you want to hear the warnings, buy your own weather radio. That way, if you decide to ignore the warnings, your ignorance hasn't cost the taxpayers anything. Your decision. Your responsibility. Your consequences.

The government has no business holding everyone's hand and trying to save those who are unwilling to save themselves. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him do the backstroke.

Now, with that bit of humor, smile and go do something to take responsibility for yourself.

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My career has focused on wilderness survival, urban survival, and surviving catastrophic disasters.
After serving in Special Forces, I took our family to live in a cave in the wilds of southern Utah, while I prepared to become a survival instructor. We spent a year in the wilderness, experiencing all sorts of shelters, and making full use of the natural resources.
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